In the present day, computer systems that were once considered “stand alone” are evolving toward common interconnectivity. At one time, the various computers in an office were all operated individually. Today, the normal business utilizes a network, e.g., a local area network and/or a wide area network, to inter-connect the computers within the enterprise to facilitate work flow among the people who work in the enterprise. Once computerized systems in an office are networked together, it may then become necessary and appropriate to develop tools and methodologies for sharing common resources and for exchanging work files and data, even between modes of communication that were once considered quite distinct.
An example of the once distinct technology now being connected to the modern network and computerized work environment is the technology of facsimile document transmission. Originally, facsimile machines were individual devices which were capable of transmitting what is, in effect, a bit mapped version of a document through defined protocols over a telephone connection to a remote dedicated facsimile device which was capable of reproducing the bit map pattern on paper at the remote station. While stand-alone facsimile devices certainly still exist, it has become common to incorporate a facsimile transmission and reception function into computers and computer networks having other diverse and integrated functions.
Upon receiving a facsimile transmission (fax), a confirmation of receipt may be sent back to the sender of the fax. However, this confirmation has heretofore only been sent to the location from where the fax was sent. This is usually either the contact information of the sender of a fax, e.g. the “sender's number” transmitted concurrently with the fax, or the email address of the sender of an email (and possibly those CC'd). However, many times this location is not the desired destination for the confirmation of the fax receipt. Furthermore, due to the nature of the fax content it may be desirable to send a fax receipt confirmation to additional locations not explicitly mentioned in any part of the fax transmission.
Therefore, there is a current need for the ability to route a fax confirmation to one or more destinations based on some aspect of the content of the incoming fax message itself.